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Baseball Daily Dose

Daily Dose: Holy Hanley

For Matthew Pouliot's Top 300 rankings for the month of July, bang it here. For all the latest up-to-date fantasy information, check in regularly on Rotoworld's constantly-flowing player news page. This is Monday's edition of the MLB Daily Dose.

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been a man on fire since his return on June 4 from a severe hamstring strain.

Hanley went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Los Angeles’ 4-3 defeat of the Phillies on Saturday and 1-for-4 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday’s 6-1 victory. The 29-year-old is now batting .375/.414/.672 with five homers, three steals, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored in 22 games (16 starts) since his activation. And the Dodgers are three games over .500 in that span.

Ramirez has missed large chunks of time this season, but his injuries are not of the lingering variety and it’s reasonable to expect him to maintain good health the rest of the way. If it’s still possible to buy low, do it now. If you were ahead of the curve on that, pour yourself a tall frosty mimosa.

Puig Pouring It On

Hanley’s hot bat wouldn’t typically be playing second fiddle to anyone on any team, but Yasiel Puig Mania is in full effect out in Chavez Ravine at the moment.

Puig, 22, finished a home run short of the cycle on Sunday afternoon against the Phillies and now boasts a remarkable .436/.467/.713 batting line over his first 107 plate appearances in the major leagues. He has seven home runs, four stolen bases and 16 RBI in 26 games, and it doesn’t look like the Cuban defector has any plans of slowing down.

Puig’s batting line is certain to regress some over the final three months of the 2013 regular season, but it’s hard to recommend selling high in fantasy leagues on such a phenom. The sky might be the limit for this kid. There’s no doubt anymore that he is up for good.

Everything's Coming Up Kipnis

Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis carried lofty expectations into the 2012 season after his electric performance down the stretch in 2011. He did not fully meet the hype, slugging 14 homers and stealing 31 bases but batting just .257/.335/.379 across 672 plate appearances.

Which made him somewhat of a post-hype sleeper heading into 2013. And boy has he delivered.

Kipnis got off to a sluggish start in April but the 26-year-old is hitting .333/.421/.618 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 55 games since May 1. He was 6-for-10 with four extra-base hits and six runs scored in the Indians’ three-game weekend sweep of the White Sox.

National League Quick Hits: Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer is working on a 27-game hitting streak … Bryce Harper (knee) will be activated from the disabled list Monday … Ryan Howard finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Phillies’ loss to the Dodgers on Sunday … Marlins backup catcher Jeff Mathis hit a walkoff grand slam in Sunday’s dramatic win over the Padres ... Ross Detwiler (back) is expected to start Wednesday against the Brewers … Giants reliever Santiago Casilla made his first rehab appearance Sunday at High-A San Jose and reported no issues with his right knee … Madison Bumgarner allowed just one run over seven innings Sunday in the Giants’ win over the Rockies … Kyle Kendrick suffered a concussion Sunday when he was hit in the head by a pitch … Cardinals sinkerballer Jake Westbrook was hammered for six runs on 10 hits over four innings Sunday against the A’s … Gio Gonzalez tossed seven shutout innings, fanning seven batters, in the Nationals’ rout of the Mets on Sunday in New York … Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill lost again Sunday against the Braves and wound up 0-5 with a 9.85 ERA over 24 2/3 innings in June … Zack Wheeler was knocked around again Sunday against the Nationals and now has a 5.06 ERA and 1.50 WHIP through his first 16 major league innings … Matt Adams was scratched from the Cardinals’ lineup Sunday in Oakland due to food poisoning … Marlins right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has a 2.00 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in three starts since his activation from the disabled list … Marco Scutaro is day-to-day with a lingering back issue … Cubs outfielder Ryan Sweeney will miss at least the next two months because of a fracture in his left rib cage.

American League Quick Hits: Angels outfielder Mike Trout was held out of action Sunday due to a minor hamstring issue … Michael Pineda was shelled for four runs over just three innings Sunday in a rehab start at Double-A Trenton … Chris Davis launched his 31st home run of the season on Sunday night against the Yankees and is now on pace for 61 home runs and 156 RBI … Royals outfielder David Lough had three doubles and a homer in Sunday’s victory over the Twins … Adam Lind is day-to-day with mid-back tightness … Orioles phenom Manny Machado hit his sixth home run of the season and his 38th double in Sunday night’s defeat of the Yankees … A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson slugged his 13th home run of the year in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals … Koji Uehara blew his first save Sunday since taking over as Boston’s primary closer … Indians ace Justin Masterson threw his third shutout of the season Sunday against the White Sox … Coco Crisp is day-to-day with back spasms … C.J. Wilson struck out 10 batters and allowed just one (unearned) run over seven innings Sunday in the Angels’ defeat of the Astros … Jose Bautista hit his 19th home run of the season -- a game-tying blast -- in Sunday’s eventual loss to the Red Sox … Paul Konerko (back) is expected to return to the White Sox lineup Tuesday … Miguel Cabrera cranked his 25th home run of the year on Sunday … Orioles infielder Brian Roberts was activated from the 60-day disabled list on Sunday afternoon … Dustin Ackley (thumb) is aiming to return to the Mariners’ starting lineup Tuesday night against the Rangers … Veteran catcher Ramon Hernandez signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays … Michael Bourn is on the paternity leave list … The Orioles acquired outfielder Eric Thames from the Mariners for minor league infielder Ty Kelly.

For Matthew Pouliot's Top 300 rankings for the month of July, bang it here. For all the latest up-to-date fantasy information, check in regularly on Rotoworld's constantly-flowing player news page. This is Monday's edition of the MLB Daily Dose.

Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been a man on fire since his return on June 4 from a severe hamstring strain.

Hanley went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Los Angeles’ 4-3 defeat of the Phillies on Saturday and 1-for-4 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday’s 6-1 victory. The 29-year-old is now batting .375/.414/.672 with five homers, three steals, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored in 22 games (16 starts) since his activation. And the Dodgers are three games over .500 in that span.

Ramirez has missed large chunks of time this season, but his injuries are not of the lingering variety and it’s reasonable to expect him to maintain good health the rest of the way. If it’s still possible to buy low, do it now. If you were ahead of the curve on that, pour yourself a tall frosty mimosa.

Puig Pouring It On

Hanley’s hot bat wouldn’t typically be playing second fiddle to anyone on any team, but Yasiel Puig Mania is in full effect out in Chavez Ravine at the moment.

Puig, 22, finished a home run short of the cycle on Sunday afternoon against the Phillies and now boasts a remarkable .436/.467/.713 batting line over his first 107 plate appearances in the major leagues. He has seven home runs, four stolen bases and 16 RBI in 26 games, and it doesn’t look like the Cuban defector has any plans of slowing down.

Puig’s batting line is certain to regress some over the final three months of the 2013 regular season, but it’s hard to recommend selling high in fantasy leagues on such a phenom. The sky might be the limit for this kid. There’s no doubt anymore that he is up for good.

Everything's Coming Up Kipnis

Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis carried lofty expectations into the 2012 season after his electric performance down the stretch in 2011. He did not fully meet the hype, slugging 14 homers and stealing 31 bases but batting just .257/.335/.379 across 672 plate appearances.

Which made him somewhat of a post-hype sleeper heading into 2013. And boy has he delivered.

Kipnis got off to a sluggish start in April but the 26-year-old is hitting .333/.421/.618 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 55 games since May 1. He was 6-for-10 with four extra-base hits and six runs scored in the Indians’ three-game weekend sweep of the White Sox.

National League Quick Hits: Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer is working on a 27-game hitting streak … Bryce Harper (knee) will be activated from the disabled list Monday … Ryan Howard finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Phillies’ loss to the Dodgers on Sunday … Marlins backup catcher Jeff Mathis hit a walkoff grand slam in Sunday’s dramatic win over the Padres ... Ross Detwiler (back) is expected to start Wednesday against the Brewers … Giants reliever Santiago Casilla made his first rehab appearance Sunday at High-A San Jose and reported no issues with his right knee … Madison Bumgarner allowed just one run over seven innings Sunday in the Giants’ win over the Rockies … Kyle Kendrick suffered a concussion Sunday when he was hit in the head by a pitch … Cardinals sinkerballer Jake Westbrook was hammered for six runs on 10 hits over four innings Sunday against the A’s … Gio Gonzalez tossed seven shutout innings, fanning seven batters, in the Nationals’ rout of the Mets on Sunday in New York … Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill lost again Sunday against the Braves and wound up 0-5 with a 9.85 ERA over 24 2/3 innings in June … Zack Wheeler was knocked around again Sunday against the Nationals and now has a 5.06 ERA and 1.50 WHIP through his first 16 major league innings … Matt Adams was scratched from the Cardinals’ lineup Sunday in Oakland due to food poisoning … Marlins right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has a 2.00 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in three starts since his activation from the disabled list … Marco Scutaro is day-to-day with a lingering back issue … Cubs outfielder Ryan Sweeney will miss at least the next two months because of a fracture in his left rib cage.

American League Quick Hits: Angels outfielder Mike Trout was held out of action Sunday due to a minor hamstring issue … Michael Pineda was shelled for four runs over just three innings Sunday in a rehab start at Double-A Trenton … Chris Davis launched his 31st home run of the season on Sunday night against the Yankees and is now on pace for 61 home runs and 156 RBI … Royals outfielder David Lough had three doubles and a homer in Sunday’s victory over the Twins … Adam Lind is day-to-day with mid-back tightness … Orioles phenom Manny Machado hit his sixth home run of the season and his 38th double in Sunday night’s defeat of the Yankees … A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson slugged his 13th home run of the year in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals … Koji Uehara blew his first save Sunday since taking over as Boston’s primary closer … Indians ace Justin Masterson threw his third shutout of the season Sunday against the White Sox … Coco Crisp is day-to-day with back spasms … C.J. Wilson struck out 10 batters and allowed just one (unearned) run over seven innings Sunday in the Angels’ defeat of the Astros … Jose Bautista hit his 19th home run of the season -- a game-tying blast -- in Sunday’s eventual loss to the Red Sox … Paul Konerko (back) is expected to return to the White Sox lineup Tuesday … Miguel Cabrera cranked his 25th home run of the year on Sunday … Orioles infielder Brian Roberts was activated from the 60-day disabled list on Sunday afternoon … Dustin Ackley (thumb) is aiming to return to the Mariners’ starting lineup Tuesday night against the Rangers … Veteran catcher Ramon Hernandez signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays … Michael Bourn is on the paternity leave list … The Orioles acquired outfielder Eric Thames from the Mariners for minor league infielder Ty Kelly.